June 20-25, 2004

Faculty

Mark Bailey, Lecturer in Liturgical Music
Mark Bailey is broadly experienced in the choral, orchestral, and operatic repertoires, with special emphasis on Slavic sacred and secular music. Recently, he was appointed music director of the Manchester Symphonic Chorale in Manchester Connecticut. Tthe last five years, Mr. Bailey has conducted concerts in over forty major American cities.

John Barnet, Assistant Professor of New Testament
John Barnet is Assistant Professor of New Testament at the seminary, where he teaches courses in New Testament, Old Testament, and biblical Greek. He completed his doctoral studies at Duke University under the direction of Professor Dan O. Via. His dissertation -- "'Not the Righteous but Sinners': M. M. Bakhtin's Theory of Aesthetics and the Problem of Reader-Character Interaction in Matthew's Gospel" -- is being published by Sheffield Academic Press.

Rev John Behr, Associate Professor of Patristics
Fr John Behr teaches courses in patristics, dogmatics and scriptural exegesis at the seminary. After completing a degree in Philosophy in London in 1987, he spent a year studying in Greece. He finished an M.Phil. in Eastern Christian Studies at Oxford University, under Bishop Kallistos (Ware). While finishing his studies, he was invited to be a Visiting Lecturer at St Vladimir’s Seminary in 1993, where he has been a permanent faculty member since 1995, tenured in 2000, and ordained in 2001.

Fr Timothy Blumentritt, Lecturer in Pastoral Theology
Fr Timothy Blumentritt was pastor of Ss. Cyril & Methodius Orthodox Church in Terryville, Connecticut, until undertaking doctoral studies and later joining the faculty of St Vladimir's Seminary in 2002 as Lecturer in Pastoral Theology. He is a Ph.D. candidate in Theology at Boston College. Since 1996, Fr Tim has been associated with the seminary as an assistant with pastoral care of seminarians under direction of the Dean of Students.

Peter C Bouteneff, Assistant Professor in Dogmatic Theology
Peter Bouteneff teaches courses in dogmatic theology, patristics, and spirituality at the seminary. He has an M.Div. from the seminary and a doctorate from Oxford University, where he studied under Bishop Kallistos (Ware). He has worked for many years in theological dialogue, notably as Executive Secretary for Faith and Order at the World Council of Churches, and has written extensively on Orthodox relations with the WCC.

Fr John Breck
Fr John Breck has been serving the Orthodox Church for several decades as priest and professor. He studied theology at Brown and Yale Universities, and received a doctorate from the Theological University of Heidelberg (Germany). He has taught in the Theological Seminary of St Herman of Alaska in Kodiak, at St Sergius Institute in Paris, and from 1984 to 1996 he taught New Testament and ethics at St Vladimir's Seminary. Since 1999 he also teaches in several theological faculties in Rumania. In 1996, together with his wife Lyn, he founded the Pastoral Retreat Center of St Silouan in South Carolina - a retreat center for priests and lay people of the OCA. Fr Breck writes twice monthly for the series "Life in Christ: Pastoral Reflections," appearing on the OCA website and in the OCA publication The Orthodox Church.

David Drillock, Professor of Liturgical Music
Prof David Drillock is the author of many books and articles including The Divine Liturgy, ed. with Helen Erickson and John Erickson (SVS Press), and has produced many audio recordings including "The Divine Liturgy," recorded with the alumni of St Herman's, St Tikhon's and St Vladimir's Seminaries (1992).

John H Erickson, Dean, Peter N Gramowich Professor of Church History
Prof John H. Erickson is Dean and Professor of Church History at the Seminary. He is widely published in the areas of church history and canon law. His recent books include Orthodox Christians in America (Oxford University Press, 1999), and The Quest for Unity: Orthodox and Catholics in Dialogue (SVS Press, 1996). Dean Erickson also serves on several committees of the Orthodox Church in America, including the Metropolitan Council.

Helen Breslich Erickson, Lecturer in Liturgical Music
In addition to being a Lecturer in Liturgical Music at the Seminary, Helen Erickson is Chair of the Department of Performing Arts at Hackley School in Tarrytown, New York. She is the author of several publications including Young Person's Guide to the Opera (Silver-Burdett, 1975).

V Rev Paul Lazor, Dean of Students, Lecturer in Liturgics & Pastoral Theology
Fr Paul Lazor is a priest of the Orthodox Church in America, and since 1969 has taught at the Seminary in the areas of Liturgics, Practical (Pastoral) Theology, Liturgical Theology, Church Slavonic, and Russian. As an author, translator and editor Fr Paul has produced numerous articles, tracts, and liturgical service booklets.

Fr Alexander Rentel, Instructor in Church History and Canon Law
Fr Alexander Rentel, a 1995 M.Div. graduate of St Vladimir’s Seminary, is currently finishing his doctoral dissertation under the direction of Fr Robert Taft, SJ, at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome. Prior to coming to the Seminary as a faculty member, Fr Alexander was a Junior Fellow in Byzantine Studies at Dumbarton Oaks. He was ordained to the priesthood in July 2001, and has most recently been serving at St Gregory of Nyssa Church in Columbus, OH (OCA).

Albert S Rossi, Lecturer in Pastoral Theology
Dr Rossi teaches courses in pastoral theology at the Seminary. He is a member of the SCOBA Commission on Contemporary Social and Moral Issues. He has written numerous articles on psychology and religion and published a book through Paulist Press entitled, Can I Make a Difference: Christian Family Life Today. He is a licensed clinical psychologist in the state of New York.

Dn Kevin Smith, SVS Fellow in Liturgical Music
Deacon Kevin graduated from St Vladimir's Seminary in 2002 (M. Div., M.A. in Liturgical Music). He serves as a teaching assistant, and as ecclesiarch for Three Hierarchs Chapel, supervising the seminary chanters and choirs. He is currently studying at Mannes College of Music in New York City, to prepare for post-graduate studies in choral conducting.

Dr Jessica Suchy-Pilalis
Dr Suchy-Pilalis is a specialist in the history, theory and practice of Byzantine music. She has recorded two hymns by the seventh-century nun, Kassiani, that were issued on the companion cassette to Historical Anthology of Music by Women. Bishop Timotheos of Detroit bestowed upon her the prayer of Hieropsalti in recognition of her service to the Orthodox Church. Her lectures and workshops have been presented to professional music conferences, women's studies seminars, Hellenic cultural organizations and Orthodox church groups in various cities across the U.S. She is Associate Professor of Music Theory and Harp Performance at Crane School of Music, State University of New York.